TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – It’s been five years since the last time Steve Bushnell was the head baseball coach at Seaman High School.
It took five years, but Bushnell got that itch.
The itch to be back in the Vikings dugout — the same dugout he spent 1999-2020 in. At the same school he helped win 9 state championships.
“It’s the only place I’ve known,” Bushnell told 13 Sports. “I taught and coached here and was an administrator for 33 years here in our school district. It’s the only job I’ve ever had since I was 23 years old.”
Bushnell brought lots of success to an already storied Seaman baseball program. He helped produce state championships, college athletes, and coached the second MLB player in school history.
Most people would probably assume the chase for championships — maybe to reach double-digits or a dozen — would’ve been part of the allure to return from retirement.
Not for Bushnell.
“I’m really not motivated by those titles,” Bushnell said. “I think that’s a byproduct of a lot of the things we emphasize and try to do.”
“It’s a lot of hard work and doing things the right way off the field that leads to your success on the field,” Bushnell continued.
Now in his second swing of things as the Seaman head baseball coach, Bushnell has broader expectations this time around.
“[We’re] really trying to develop skill, trying to have those teaching and learning moments through the sport of baseball,” Bushnell said. “And so, to be back in that role is probably the most exciting part of it.”
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